The Kontinental Hockey League have confirmed they will take a break from January 29 to February 28 for Pyeongchang 2018 ©KHL

A threat by the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) to scrap a mid-season break to allows its player to compete in the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang if Russia was forced to take part under a neutral flag appears to have been dropped.

KHL President Dmitry Chernyshenko had issued the warning last month but has now pulled back following a meeting today.

"The KHL Board of Directors supported the decision of the Russian hockey team to perform at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang under a neutral flag and wished good luck to all the players of the KHL representing the national teams of their countries at the tournament," they said in a statement published following today's meeting, 

Chernyshenko had threatened the "KHL is ready to respond accordingly" when it became clear the International Olympic Committee (IOC) were considering punishing Russia for "systematic manipulation" of the doping control system at Sochi 2014.

The decision to continue with the KHL break from January 29 to February 25 has been taken even though Chernyshenko, former President and chief executive of Sochi 2014, was among those punished by the IOC. 

He was sacked from the IOC Coordination Commission for the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing.

Chernyshenko was not directly implicated personally in the doping scandal but was punished due to the responsibility of Sochi 2014 to avoid damaging the integrity of the Olympic Games, according to the IOC.

KHL President Dmitry Chernyshenko had threatened to scrap a mid-season break for the League that would have prevented players taking part at Pyeongchang 2018 if the IOC banned Russia ©KHL
KHL President Dmitry Chernyshenko had threatened to scrap a mid-season break for the League that would have prevented players taking part at Pyeongchang 2018 if the IOC banned Russia ©KHL

The decision by the KHL to allow its player to play at Pyeongchang 2018 will be a big relief to the IOC and the International Ice Hockey Federation following an earlier decision by the National Hockey League (NHL) in the United States and Canada not to close down for the Olympics.

The KHL is a 27-team professional league widely considered as the second strongest in the world after the NHL.

Twenty-one of the teams are from Russia while there is one team each from Belarus, China, Finland, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Slovakia.

More KHL players than ever before are expected to feature in Pyeongchang due to the absence of the NHL for the first time since their inaugural appearance at Nagano 1998.

This was likely to be included in the teams of Canada, Czech Republic, Sweden and US, as well as Russia, who will compete under the "Olympic Athletes" from Russia banner.

Czech Republic, for instance, included 13 players from the KHL in their squad for last month's Karjala Cup in Finland.

The Winter Olympics are due to take place from February 9 to 25.